Island Resilience Fund 2026-27: Island Communities Impact Assessment

6. Adjustments

A number of measures have been incorporated into the design of the Fund to mitigate potential negative impacts and improve accessibility.

These include:

• expanding eligibility to include additional island communities where evidence demonstrates increasing or sustained disruption, helping ensure support remains responsive to changing circumstances;
• clarifying eligibility for fish catching and aquaculture businesses to address issues identified through evaluation and stakeholder engagement which suggested some affected businesses may previously have believed they were ineligible;

• reducing eligibility thresholds for to improve access for smaller organisations that provide important community services and contribute to the resilience of island communities;
• recognising portfolio livelihoods common within island economies; and
• maintaining a proportionate and accessible application process designed to minimise administrative burden on smaller organisations.

The Scottish Government considered stakeholder feedback suggesting that all island businesses and communities affected by disruption should be eligible for support. However, given the finite funding available, a universal approach would reduce the level of support available to those communities experiencing the greatest impacts. Ministers therefore adopted a targeted approach based on available evidence and stakeholder engagement to maximise the overall benefit of the Fund for island communities.

Monitoring and review

The Scottish Government will continue to work with Highlands and Islands Enterprise to monitor uptake, delivery and outcomes of the Fund. Feedback from applicants, stakeholders and island communities will be considered alongside evaluation evidence to understand the effectiveness of support and inform future policy development.